Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Commercial Quota Harvested for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 51096-51097 [2013-20300]
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 20, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
flounder fishery require publication of
this notification to advise Massachusetts
that the quota has been harvested and to
advise vessel permit holders and dealer
permit holders that no Federal
commercial quota is available for
landing summer flounder in
Massachusetts.
[FR Doc. 2013–20116 Filed 8–19–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–C
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Effective August 23, 2013,
through December 31, 2013.
DATES:
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 111220786–1781–01]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
RIN 0648–XC811
Carly Bari, (978) 281–9224, or
Carly.Bari@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Regulations governing the summer
flounder fishery are found at 50 CFR
part 648. The regulations require annual
specification of a commercial quota that
is apportioned on a percentage basis
among the coastal states from North
Carolina through Maine. The process to
set the annual commercial quota and the
percent allocated to each state is
described in § 648.102.
The initial total commercial quota for
summer flounder for the 2013 fishing
year is 11,793,596 lb (5,349,575 kg) (77
FR 76942, December 31, 2012). The
percent allocated to vessels landing
summer flounder in Massachusetts is
6.82046 percent, resulting in a
commercial quota of 804,377 lb (364,866
kg). The 2013 allocation was adjusted to
791,236 lb (358,899 kg) after deduction
of research set-aside, adjustment for
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Summer Flounder Fishery;
Commercial Quota Harvested for the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
AGENCY:
NMFS announces that the
2013 summer flounder commercial
quota allocated to the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts has been harvested.
Vessels issued a commercial Federal
fisheries permit for the summer
flounder fishery may not land summer
flounder in Massachusetts for the
remainder of calendar year 2013, unless
additional quota becomes available
through a transfer from another state.
Regulations governing the summer
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SUMMARY:
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22:41 Aug 19, 2013
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2012 quota overages, and an adjustment
for a quota transfer between states.
The Administrator, Northeast Region,
NMFS (Regional Administrator),
monitors the state commercial quotas
and determines when a state’s
commercial quota has been harvested.
NMFS is required to publish
notification in the Federal Register
advising and notifying commercial
vessels and dealer permit holders that,
effective upon a specific date, the state’s
commercial quota has been harvested
and no commercial quota is available for
landing summer flounder in that state.
The Regional Administrator has
determined based upon dealer reports
and other available information that
Massachusetts has harvested its quota
for 2013.
Section 648.4(b) provides that Federal
permit holders agree, as a condition of
the permit, not to land summer flounder
in any state that the Regional
Administrator has determined no longer
has commercial quota available.
Therefore, effective 0001 hours, August
23, 2013, landings of summer flounder
in Massachusetts by vessels holding
summer flounder commercial Federal
fisheries permits are prohibited for the
remainder of the 2013 calendar year,
unless additional quota becomes
available through a transfer and is
announced in the Federal Register.
Effective 0001 hours, August 23, 2013,
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51096
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 20, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
federally permitted dealers are also
notified that they may not purchase
summer flounder from federally
permitted vessels that land in
Massachusetts for the remainder of the
calendar year, or until additional quota
becomes available through a transfer
from another state.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part
648 and is exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 15, 2013.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013–20300 Filed 8–19–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 121210694–3514–02]
RIN 0648–XC783
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries;
Closure
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
AGENCY:
NMFS is prohibiting directed
fishing for Pacific sardine off the coasts
of Washington, Oregon and California.
This action is necessary because the
directed harvest allocation total for the
second seasonal period (July 1–
September 14) is projected to be reached
by the effective date of this rule. From
the effective date of this rule until
September 15, 2013, Pacific sardine may
be harvested only as part of the live bait
fishery or incidental to other fisheries;
the incidental harvest of Pacific sardine
is limited to 40-percent by weight of all
fish per trip. Fishing vessels must be at
shore and in the process of offloading at
sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with RULES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
22:41 Aug 19, 2013
Jkt 229001
12:01 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time,
August 22, 2013.
DATES: Effective 12:01 a.m. Pacific
Daylight Time (PDT) August 22, 2013,
through 11:59 p.m., September 14, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joshua Lindsay, Southwest Region,
NMFS, (562) 980–4034.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
document announces that based on the
best available information recently
obtained from the fishery and
information on past fishing effort, the
directed fishing harvest allocation for
the second allocation period (July 1–
September 14) will be reached and
therefore directed fishing for Pacific
sardine is being closed until September
15, 2013. Fishing vessels must be at
shore and in the process of offloading at
the time of closure. From 12:01 a.m.,
August 22, through September 14, 2013,
Pacific sardine may be harvested only as
part of the live bait fishery or incidental
to other fisheries, with the incidental
harvest of Pacific sardine limited to 40percent by weight of all fish caught
during a trip.
NMFS manages the Pacific sardine
fishery in the U.S. exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast
(California, Oregon, and Washington) in
accordance with the Coastal Pelagic
Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan
(FMP). Annual specifications published
in the Federal Register establish the
allowable harvest levels (ie. annual
catch limit/harvest guideline (HG)) for
each Pacific sardine fishing season
(January 1–December 31). If during any
of the seasonal allocation periods the
applicable adjusted directed harvest
allocation is projected to be taken, and
the fishery is closed, only incidental
harvest is allowed. For the remainder of
the period, any incidental Pacific
sardine landings will be counted against
that period’s incidental set aside. In the
event that an incidental set-aside is
projected to be attained, all fisheries
will be closed to the retention of Pacific
sardine for the remainder of the period
via appropriate rulemaking.
Under 50 CFR 660.509, if the total HG
or these apportionment levels for Pacific
sardine are reached at any time, NMFS
is required to close the Pacific sardine
fishery via appropriate rulemaking and
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51097
it is to remain closed until it re-opens
either per the allocation scheme or the
beginning of the next fishing season. In
accordance with § 660.509 the Regional
Administrator shall publish a notice in
the Federal Register announcing the
date of the closure of the directed
fishery for Pacific sardine.
The above in-season harvest
restrictions are not intended to affect the
prosecution of the live bait portion of
the Pacific sardine fishery.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR
660.509 and is exempt from Office of
Management and Budget review under
Executive Order 12866.
NMFS finds good cause to waive the
requirement to provide prior notice and
opportunity for public comment
pursuant to the authority set forth at 5
U.S.C. 553(b)(B) for the closure of the
directed harvest of Pacific sardine. For
the reasons set forth below, notice and
comment procedures are impracticable
and contrary to the public interest. For
the same reasons, NMFS also finds good
cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive
the 30-day delay in effectiveness for this
action. This measure responds to the
best available information and is
necessary for the conservation and
management of the Pacific sardine
resource. A delay in effectiveness would
cause the fishery to exceed the in-season
harvest level. These seasonal harvest
levels are important mechanisms in
preventing overfishing and managing
the fishery at optimum yield. The
established directed and incidental
harvest allocations are designed to allow
fair and equitable opportunity to the
resource by all sectors of the Pacific
sardine fishery and to allow access to
other profitable CPS fisheries, such as
squid and Pacific mackerel. Many of the
same fishermen who harvest Pacific
sardine rely on these other fisheries for
a significant portion of their income.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 15, 2013.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013–20303 Filed 8–19–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 20, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51096-51097]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20300]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 111220786-1781-01]
RIN 0648-XC811
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; Commercial Quota Harvested for the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 2013 summer flounder commercial quota
allocated to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been harvested.
Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer
flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in Massachusetts for the
remainder of calendar year 2013, unless additional quota becomes
available through a transfer from another state. Regulations governing
the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to
advise Massachusetts that the quota has been harvested and to advise
vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no Federal
commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in
Massachusetts.
DATES: Effective August 23, 2013, through December 31, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carly Bari, (978) 281-9224, or
Carly.Bari@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the summer flounder
fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648. The regulations require annual
specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned on a percentage
basis among the coastal states from North Carolina through Maine. The
process to set the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to
each state is described in Sec. 648.102.
The initial total commercial quota for summer flounder for the 2013
fishing year is 11,793,596 lb (5,349,575 kg) (77 FR 76942, December 31,
2012). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer flounder in
Massachusetts is 6.82046 percent, resulting in a commercial quota of
804,377 lb (364,866 kg). The 2013 allocation was adjusted to 791,236 lb
(358,899 kg) after deduction of research set-aside, adjustment for 2012
quota overages, and an adjustment for a quota transfer between states.
The Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator),
monitors the state commercial quotas and determines when a state's
commercial quota has been harvested. NMFS is required to publish
notification in the Federal Register advising and notifying commercial
vessels and dealer permit holders that, effective upon a specific date,
the state's commercial quota has been harvested and no commercial quota
is available for landing summer flounder in that state. The Regional
Administrator has determined based upon dealer reports and other
available information that Massachusetts has harvested its quota for
2013.
Section 648.4(b) provides that Federal permit holders agree, as a
condition of the permit, not to land summer flounder in any state that
the Regional Administrator has determined no longer has commercial
quota available. Therefore, effective 0001 hours, August 23, 2013,
landings of summer flounder in Massachusetts by vessels holding summer
flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits are prohibited for the
remainder of the 2013 calendar year, unless additional quota becomes
available through a transfer and is announced in the Federal Register.
Effective 0001 hours, August 23, 2013,
[[Page 51097]]
federally permitted dealers are also notified that they may not
purchase summer flounder from federally permitted vessels that land in
Massachusetts for the remainder of the calendar year, or until
additional quota becomes available through a transfer from another
state.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 15, 2013.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-20300 Filed 8-19-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
